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Digital
Digital updates: VEVO, Sony Entertainment Network, Spotify
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 6 December 2011
Yesterday we reported that VEVO was in talks with one of its key competitors in the online video market – MTV – about supplying the broadcaster with music videos for their websites. And now the online video service’s UK division has done a deal with another sort of competitor in the streaming content space, the Sony Entertainment Network, though as the Sony Music company owns a chunk of VEVO, I don’t suppose they’re full on rivals.
Anyway, Sony’s streaming content platform is the first brand to do a major content-tie-up promotion with VEVO in the UK. The video site has set up advent-calendar style page, sponsored by the Sony Entertainment Network, and featuring 25 artists. There’s a video from each act, plus competitions to win prizes related to each featured artist, including signed guitars, tickets, signed merchandise, and even a meal at Nandos with Professor Green. Classy stuff.
The Christmas content feature is one of a number of bespoke content strands being developed by VEVO UK. Such branded strands, already very much part of the VEVO set up in the US, will become more prevalent on the video site over here too in 2012, including strands like The Lift, which showcases new bands, and Vevo Presents, which features brand-sponsored secret gigs by more established acts.
Elsewhere in Sony Entertainment Network news, the Sony-owned digital content service recently confirmed plans for more global expansion, as well as revealing the service will soon be available on non-Sony devices too, including Apple gadgets.
Meanwhile, according to the FT, Tim Schaaff, the Sony division’s President, has said he is confident his service can last the distance against more buzzy rivals like Spotify and Pandora – despite past aborted efforts in the digital content space by Sony Corp – because it has both the resources and the business model to survive long term.
The FT quotes him thus: “Spotify is certainly a formidable competitor. But we can afford to invest in this area for a long time. None of those [other streaming] businesses are making money. Spotify is losing money hand over fist. Free is a great proposition but someone has got to pay for it. Right now it’s being paid for by the venture capital community”.
And now you’ve brought up Spotify (well, OK, Tim brought it up, but I’m sure he’d love us to big his rival up some more in this here Sony story), Hypebot has listed other functionality added to the Spotify player by last week’s upgrade, other than the new third party apps that dominated the Swedish streaming service’s unnecessary press call in New York. Those of you who have already upgraded to New Spotify will already have noticed some of these new functions, but possibly not all of them.
The list is here.
